A man's body was pulled from the River Rothay in Cumbria by rescuers searching for a man who had been seen falling in.

In Gwynedd, north-west Wales, a woman's body was found in a stream in full flow near her house.

The deaths come as gale-force winds and heavy rain hit the Christmas getaway for road, rail, air and sea passengers. Fallen overhead power lines left thousands without electricity.

'Excess of water'

Meanwhile, among those affected by the severe weather conditions:

As many as 27,000 customers were left without electricity in southern England, Southern Electric said, with 13,000 in and around Aldershot alone. Others were without power in Oxford, Poole in Dorset, and Petersfield in Hampshire

Some 3,000 Western Power Distribution customers in Cornwall and a further 2,000 in other parts of the South West were left without electricity. Some 800 were still without power on Monday evening.

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Insp Wright said: "It would be fair to say that the river in its current state did not assist the rescue operation. It was fast flowing, and a lot more water than normal, so yes it's fair to say that the weather contributed to the problem."

In a separate incident, police in Bethesda, Gwynedd, are investigating the death of a woman whose body was recovered in water 50m from her house. It was thought the woman had left her house to check a water supply.

"It's a small stream that runs off the mountain - about half a metre wide and three-quarters of a metre deep - but it was in full flow," Paul Smith from the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team told BBC Wales.

'Serious storm'

The Met Office has amber "be prepared" alerts for rain in Wales, south-west England and London, and south-east England for Monday evening and Christmas Eve morning.

By Monday evening the wind had brought down more than 80 trees on train lines, Network Rail said, while mud-slides and flooding also caused delays.

Staff had had to clear trampolines and sheds from the lines, the rail company added.

Dozens of train operators across England, Wales and Scotland have delayed or cancelled services after speed restrictions were imposed on many routes, and many services were finishing earlier than normal.

One said: "Sat on our plane at Heathrow awaiting a potential departure time. Three flights have taken off in the last hour and there is a queue of 30. Not optimistic of making our respective destinations for Christmas Day."

Another said: "Plane has left the gate and we are sitting waiting for the tower to allow us to move. Going to be a long night on the tarmac at Heathrow."